


A Moment in the Woods

by khanadee, Whorever



Series: Forest Guardian AU [2]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Bertholdt is a druid, Fluff, Happy birthday bert, Jeans a witch, M/M, Multi, Reiner is a paladin, Theyre in a d&d world basically, nothing but cute fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 13:38:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9126016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/khanadee/pseuds/khanadee, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whorever/pseuds/Whorever
Summary: Jean's fed up with Reiner's jealous aura and decides to push the Paladin into doing something about it.





	

**Author's Note:**

> A little drabble I wrote that I'm deciding to share as a Bertday gift c: Thanks goes to a friend of mine for letting me gush over this au with them c:

Jean Kirschstein was a witch, and to the few people that knew him- an asshole. With the collection of herbs, books of spells and alchemy and miscellaneous things he often referred to as “needed ingredients”, Jean liked to keep himself busy. The kind of busy that meant little to no interruptions. One person would think that having grown up--and since mated with-- two werewolves, his patience would be endless. It was in fact, quite the opposite.

  
There wasn’t a lot that Jean had patience for--which made him quite an interesting witch-- and among the many things that made him ready to dig out his darkest hexes, Reiner fucking Braun was at the absolute top in his life at the moment.

  
Reiner was a Paladin on a mission with a blond rogue from a guild in the town Jean often did supply runs to. Was he a bad guy? No, not at all. He wouldn’t be a paladin otherwise, now would he?

  
The thing that put Reiner at the top of Jean’s shit list were the scoffs and sharp remarks made every time he took any of the Forest Guardian’s attention away from the blond. His glares and all around aura towards the witch really convinced Jean that if he attempted the Bones of Anger curse he’d recently been studying, he would without a doubt succeed. Getting Eren and Marco to fetch him a couple of chickens would be easy, and the anger that simmered slowly with Reiner’s idiotic jealousy would be plenty to fuel the curse.

  
But of course-- He couldn’t do that. Not without upsetting the next person on his shit list. Which was also a part of the reason why Reiner was on it in the first place.

  
The Forest Guardian was an old friend of Jean’s, and a caretaker at times if Jean would ever admit that to himself. The Guardian had little to no interaction with people in his life, so the sudden spur of feelings he gained for the paladin caused for many many unwanted meetings with the bitter witch.

  
Bertholdt may have been protecting any and everything around Jean’s home and life, but that didn’t stop the witch from possibly adding his name to the curse he was studying.

  
To be fair, Bertholdt didn’t know what he was doing. He didn’t understand that running away from the paladin to vent about his feelings to Jean was stirring the pot of jealousy in the otherwise angelic of a man. Bertholdt saw Jean as a friend. Jean would categorize the tall man as “tolerable.” [Read; close friend] Reiner thought there was more going on between the two.

  
Annie-the rogue Reiner traveled with- had repeatedly told the man to stop simmering and just talk to Bertholdt, but always failed to convince her companion to do so. Reiner seemed convinced that Jean was stealing Bertholdt away and after one particularly frustrating groan directed at Jean, the witch had had enough.

  
Coming to an abrupt halt, Jean spun on his heel, death in his eyes as he stomped towards the tall blond. Reiner’s gaze watched as the witch stormed his way, the anger radiating off of Jean almost intimidating him.  
“What the actual _fuck_ is your problem with me!?” Jean shouted at him, hands clenched into tight fists at his sides. Reiner stood tall, but didn’t ignore the pair of wolves who’s full attention were now on him. Eren looked especially vicious with the way his lip curled in a growl. Marco was more or less indifferent.

  
Reiner pulled the waterskin he’d currently been drinking away from his mouth and decided that playing dumb was the right way to go. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  
The muscles in Jean’s face couldn’t have gotten any tighter with anger to that response. “Oh you don’t?” Reiner may have been doubting his path choice. Praise to Torm that Bertholdt wasn’t there to be witnessing this altercation. “Then why am I dealing with glares and back handed remarks from you every time I so much as look in Bert’s general direction?”

  
The paladin’s cheeks flushed just a bit at the name, hating how foolish Bertholdt made him feel at times. He glanced to the all black wolf, Marco’s eyes reminding him of the bits of advice he had offered to Reiner previously.  
Swallowing his pride was a lot harder to do when there was a lot to apologize for. Reiner let out a sigh, lacing his waterskin back to his hip while Jean stared him down. At least Eren eased up on the growling. “Look, it’s not you…it’s just… I don’t know I kinda thought Bert and I were…y’know really hittin’ it off.” He scratched at the back of his neck, hating admitting it out loud. “But now it just seems like all he wants to do is spend his time with you, and… I guess I’ve been a little jealous.”

  
Jean’s anger eased up if only slightly. The witch really wanted to roll his eyes, scoff at the man and top it off with a sharp “No fuckin’ shit,” But the kicked puppy look that floated in the paladin’s eyes may or may not have reminded the witch of a particular wolf of his. He took in a deep breath and spoke his next words through gritted teeth. “Would you like me to do a reading on your love life?”

* * *

 

Reiner hadn’t known the group of misfits from the forest for all that long, so he wouldn’t have known how to read Jean’s body language as anything more than controlled as the witch led him into his clustered but very particularly set up hut.

  
Marco and Eren trotted from a distance behind, knowing that Jean was doing everything he could to keep from attacking the blond man. Eren seemed in favor of this, while Marco worried for the paladin’s safety.

  
Jean directed Reiner to a padding on the floor, around a wooden table that had cards and books with possible failed potions smoking gently on top of it. Jean moved around the hut, hand lighting specific candles through out the home and mumbling praises to his deities as he did so. It didn’t matter really, it wasn’t like Reiner could tell what he was doing anyway, but it was soothing to Jean so it might have been for the better.

  
The witch slowly made his way towards the table, sitting on his legs and very calmly reaching to gather the Tarot cards that littered the table from his last reading. He picked each card up, one by one. First the Moon card. Then the Chariot. Then the Tower. Followed last by the Lovers card.

  
He tried not to think about what that last reading had meant and instead finally pulled his eyes up to look at the rather nervous blond across from him. He stared hard at the paladin, his jaw locked tight as Reiner started to impatiently drum his fingers against his thigh.

  
He was being polite if nothing else.

  
Then Jean reached across the wooden table and towards one of the many books he had. He gently bookmarked his page and folded the leather bound beauty, staring at it for a quiet moment. Reiner took a glance at the table, wondering why Jean hadn’t bothered to set anything up yet, but dismissed it. Perhaps he was waiting for that spice and campfire smell to strengthen before starting. Maybe Jean had already started and was currently reading into Reiner’s possible love life. Witchcraft wasn’t his specialty after all.

  
Without looking up at Reiner, Jean gripped the book in his hand tightly and immediately whipped it upside the paladin’s head. Needless to say, Reiner was completely thrown off guard. So thrown off in fact, that Jean was able to get at least three more whacks in before he finally reacted and flung himself backwards and out of harm’s way.

  
“He _likes_ you, you _idiot_.” Jean dropped the book onto the table with a loud thud. His controlled demeanor dropped back into one of annoyance as Reiner gawked at him.

  
“B…Bert likes me?”

  
“ _Yes_.”

  
“...He… He _likes_ me?”

  
Jean scoffed, rolling his eyes at Reiner. “Of course he does!”

  
Silence settled in between them as Reiner tried to process the information he was given. His cheeks might have turned a touch pink as he chewed his lip to keep from smiling. Reiner’s eyes danced around the hut before landing on the witch in front of him, his puppy love aura dropping slightly.

  
“...But… What about the two of you? There’s no way Bert likes me when… when he’s with yo--”

  
“--OOOh praise be to Ioun,” Jean groaned, wishing his deity found it in him to bless the poor witch with more patience.

  
Reiner effectively shut up, deciding that he shouldn’t argue with a witch who just told him something he’d been dying to hear since he met the Forest Druid. Bertholdt was something special to Reiner that the paladin didn’t know he’d been missing. It was strange how easily Bertholdt slipped into Reiner’s life, making it feel as if the blond wouldn’t know what to do with himself if he didn’t get to see Bertholdt anymore.

  
The thought alone was enough to put him in a sour mood, but he forced himself not to think about that. Instead, he turned his gaze back towards the witch across from him, deciding to trust his words. Reiner could see how Bertholdt could’ve been strucken with feelings towards the witch, but he couldn’t imagine Jean returning that affection. It was some what comforting to him. “So…” Reiner started, sitting up and leaning over the table again. “…How do I woo him exactly?”

  
Jean took a moment to process the words Reiner asked, mouth struggling to work without sending a slur of curses on the man. Finally he slammed a hand down on the table. “He’s already woo’d!”

  
Reiner straightened up to the loud smack against the wood, swallowing a lump in his throat. Jean simply stared at him while the faint howls from his boys could be heard just outside the hut’s door.

  
He closed his eyes, knowing that the only way this embarrassing game of love-tag would end was if Reiner confessed. As many times as Jean had told Bertholdt too, the poor druid turned as red as the blood that flowed through him and refused.

  
Jean opened his eyes after taking in a deep bresasdath, finding Reiner watching him carefully. The witch chewed on his lip before standing from his spot and moving towards their collection of water tucked in what Jean swore was a kitchen and not a craft’s room. He picked up the smallest vial and brought it back to the table, passing it to Reiner. “Here,” He nodded, acting as if he’d cast a spell on the fluid to further convince the paladin. “Give this to Bert. Once he drinks it, he’ll be more or less inclined to be with you but only if you confess to him after he drinks it.”

  
AKA; complete and utter bullshit that should give the Paladin plenty of confidence to end the embarrassing game already.

  
Reiner took the vial and turned it over in his hands. He couldn’t really sense any magic coming from it, which flagged the whole thing as suspicious. He spent little time thinking on it, figuring that if he couldn’t detect it then it was at the worst, completely ineffective and harmless. He nodded his head in thanks and then excused himself from the hut, deciding that now was just as good of a time as any to confess to the Druid that all but stole his attention.

  
Jean followed him outside, staring after him as Marco and Eren made their way towards his sides. Eren made a show of nuzzling himself under Jean’s hand, letting out a needy whine for attention with it. The witch subconsciously made room for the wolf, mumbling to himself about how much of an idiot Reiner was. After the paladin was out of sight, he turned towards his mates. “C’mon, I need to blow of some steam with some readings or something.” He contemplated possibly trying to read more into his previous Tarot reading. Maybe he could attempt to figure out what this possible upcoming war could be.

* * *

 

Reiner originally had the hardest time trying to hunt down the Forest Guardian when he first stepped foot into the woods. It was borderline impossible to hunt him down when the man could change into almost any animal of his choosing. He was pretty sure that Annie was the one who original spotted the man and trying to keep up with him after that was even more difficult.

  
Somehow, Reiner knew exactly where to find Bertholdt this time. Maybe the vines of the forest were helping to guide him along or maybe Reiner had been blessed a touch by Torm with some insight to where the tall man rested. Regardless, he took each step with haste, his heart thumping just a bit louder and faster as he drew closer to the spot where he knew Bertholdt would be.

  
Eventually, he came to a break in the trees, bushes outgrown but pushed aside in favor of a walkway that hid the soft sounds of running water. The land took a slight dip, the tall trees making a sort of barrier to the stream it hid inside. Reiner took a step out from the bushes, his breath leaving him with the way the sunlight broke through the tall leaves and graced each thing it touched with a heightened beauty.

  
The water glistened as it danced around rocks and roots, the sound soothing enough to relax the meanest of Orcs. A deer had its head dipped downward, drinking from the stream. Reiner took a step closer, as quiet as he could be. It wasn’t in fear of scaring off the deer though, no. It was in fear of losing the beautiful sight of the man sitting next to the animal, with his fingertips dipped in the water and free hand resting against the deer’s side.

  
Reiner unfortunately was nothing like his partner Annie when it came to subtlety. Where she wore light and body tight armor, Reiner wore heavy and loud. His foot came down and the ground seemed to whine at the weight he carried.

  
Bertholdt turned his head towards the noise and a smile broke out on his face instantly.

  
So much for worrying about losing that beauty of his.

  
“Reiner,” He greeted, watching the man as he stepped closer to him. He offered a seat beside him, the deer bringing its head up for a quick examination of the blond before returning to its drink.

  
“Hey.” Reiner breathed, forgetting for a moment that that was something he had to do in order to live.

  
“Hi.” Bertholdt returned the greeting, biting his lip in a sad attempt to contain the smile on his face.

  
The paladin couldn’t help but to just stare at him for moment. The way the sun’s rays came down and kissed his skin was absolutely breath taking. All the green in his silk clothes shined at their brightest, bringing out an odd but remarkably stunning glow to the druid.

  
Finally he cleared his throat, tearing his eyes away from the man before he managed to make him uncomfortable. “So um,” He attempted to start, realizing now that he hadn’t come up with a plan for how he was going to do this. “We should talk.”

  
Bertholdt withdrew his hand from the stream, tilting his head to the side in question. “About?” If he was nervous, it was hard for the paladin to tell. Where Reiner felt like he was soon to pass out from his nerves, Bertholdt looked to be glowing in his lack of nerves.

  
“A-about…feelings.” This put a dent in the glow Bertholdt had. His smile dropped and worry took over his features then. “More specifically….my feelings.” Reiner took in a deep breath, Jean’s advice long from his mind. “Towards you.”

  
“O-oh,” Bertholdt started, bringing his hands close to his chest. His cheeks went a touch shade of red, eyes now on anything but the man beside him. He immediately started to go over every interaction he could remember having with Reiner, wondering which time it was where he had somehow messed things up.

  
Reiner summoned the bit of courage that he had, and reached over towards the blushing druid, bringing their hands together and locking eyes with the man. “Bertholdt, it’s been absolutely wonderful being able to stay here in this forest-- _your_ forest with you. I’ve enjoyed all the things that you’ve created and helped to build but, I think my favorite… has just been spending time with you.” A smile broke out onto Reiner’s lips to the way Bertholdt’s hands shook in his grasp and how flushed the poor man had become. “Perhaps I’ve been blessed by Torm to have met you, but either way, I think it’s about time I told you,” The Paladin took in a deep breath, now realizing that his own hands had been shaking right along with Bertholdt’s. “Bert, I’m in love with you.”

  
All that could be heard for a long moment was the rushing of the stream beside them. Even the deer had decided to stop drinking in favor of the silence. Bertholdt’s eyes were blown in surprise, staring at the Paladin like he said something in a language he didn’t understand.

  
Reiner did his best to keep his composure, his confidence slipping with each second of silence that passed. His hands started to shake and regret was making its way into his stomach.

  
Bertholdt blinked. His eyes finally moved away from the blond in front of him and to the ground. He gave a tight squeeze to Reiner’s hands and then released them, bringing them into his lap. He seemed to be in deep thought about something, leaving Reiner hanging in horrible anticipation for what he had to say.

  
“...Bert?” He tried, hoping he didn’t have to repeat himself.

  
Bertholdt opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again, really digging in his brain for something. Finally he let out a deep sigh and brought his hands to his face in embarrassment. He let out a groan, and when he brought himself to peek through his fingers at the Paladin, his face appeared to have gotten redder. “I-I’m sorry,” He started, not understanding in the slightest the shattering effect those words had on the blond.

  
“Oh,” Reiner breathed, trying to keep the Druid from saying anything more. He got his answer he supposed.

  
“-No, no, Reiner, really,” Bertholdt tried again. He pulled his hands away from his face and placed them in his lap once again. His heart was hammering hard against his rib cage, and his eyes fixated on the ground. “I- I can’t think of anything to say.”

  
“You don’t have to say anything.” Reiner commented. “We can just- forget I said it, okay?”

  
“What? No,” Bertholdt shook his head, disagreeing with the suggestion. “What if you just- start over?”

  
To this, Reiner, stopped. He stared at the Druid for a moment, contemplating on if they were on the same page or not. “I’m confused.” He stated.

  
“You know, to the beginning of what you said. That way, while you’re talking, I can think of something to respond with, and then--”

  
“--Bert, what exactly is it that you need to say?” Reiner cut in, hoping to get an answer out of him sooner rather than later.

  
“Well,” Bertholdt relaxed a bit, chewing his lip as he looked off to the side. “Jean told me before that when situations like these happen with people, usually one person will say what they like about the other and vice-versa.” He brought his hands to cover his face again and groaned in embarrassment. “I messed it all up because I couldn’t think of what to say about you!”

  
This time, Reiner was the one who fell silent. He seemed to be tossing Bertholdt’s words back and fourth in his mind, hazel eyes moving from the ground to stare at the red druid in front of him. “So… Just to make sure I’m understanding you correctly….My feelings for you,” He hesitated for a moment, struggling to question Bertholdt. “Are you…accepting them?”

  
Bertholdt’s eyes locked onto Reiner’s and he gave a quick nod. He ducked his head down immediately afterwards, the blond’s eyes putting too much pressure on him.

  
Reiner couldn’t hold back the smile that formed on his face. It might not have been the way he expected the conversation to go, but Bertholdt’s lack of human interaction always managed to make things interesting.

  
Reiner looked down as Bertholdt reached across his lap and grabbed hold of his hand. He brought them back towards himself, pressing the Paladin’s calloused palm against his chest. His skin was warm and the cloth very thin, but that wasn’t what Reiner focused on.

  
His heart was pounding hard against his chest, a beat Reiner would have danced to if he could. His eyes moved from the pair of hands to meet green. Bertholdt smiled at him, but turned away in a shy manner before he spoke. “This is how I feel.” He commented, indicating the racing of his heart. “So, if it’s okay with you… I’d like to give you my words after I’ve thought them over and made them perfect.”

  
Reiner chuckled, his smile growing. “You don’t have to-”

  
“-Of course I do,” Bertholdt cut in, releasing Reiner’s hand. “It would make you happy,” He brushed his thumb along the Paladin’s knuckles. “And… I wanna make you happy.”

  
Reiner didn’t argue him. He understood, mostly because he felt the same way. He adjusted his hand to fit between Bertholdt’s fingers and pulled him forward with a gentle tug. It was just enough so that he could lean across the space between them and place a soft, peck of a kiss to Bertholdt’s forehead.

“You already do.”

* * *

 

Marco sat up from his spot the second he caught wind of the new couple. He looked over to Eren who had noticed just a second after him. Of course, with the two of them now staring off into the distance they heard the pair coming from, Annie and Jean had stopped what they were doing to figure out what was distracting the wolves.

  
“Are they finally done?” Jean questioned, looking to Marco for an answer. He didn’t expect to get more than a snide remark from Eren.

  
Marco nodded. “I think so.”

  
Eren listened for a moment longer before becoming bored and flopping back against the grass. He stretched his arms out against the ground and let out a long sigh. It felt nice to be able to lie on his back in his human form.

  
After a moment, rustling from the trees brought Jean and Annie’s attention to where the wolves had previously been staring, the two no longer bothering with the soon to be bonfire.

  
Reiner stepped through first, waving a hand up in greeting at the group. Bertholdt followed behind him, eyes on the ground and avoiding the stares on him. Nothing seemed that much different about the two, just that they both equally seemed happier. Jean figured the conversation went well.

  
The Paladin stepped towards the witch, Jean nodding at him. “I take it the potion worked?” He questioned.

  
Reiner’s face went blank, his eyes lighting up as he realized something. “Ohhh yeaaah,” He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out the vial Jean had sent him off with, the liquid still filled to where it was when it was handed over. “I forgot to use it.”

  
Jean rolled his eyes, but snatched the bottle out of his hand and popped it open. “Good, I’m thirsty anyway.” He drank the water in it, pulling the now empty bottle away with a satisfied hum.

  
Needless to say, Reiner looked about horrified. The witch cocked an eyebrow at him, wondering what he’d done wrong. “What?” He questioned.

  
Reiner just blinked, then pointed at the now empty bottle. “You’re not… Are you gonna fall in love with me now?”

  
Jean immediately busted out into a laugh, pointing at the bottle. “Is that what I told you would happen?”

Annie rolled her eyes, mumbling to herself about how much of an idiot Reiner was while Eren was on full alert, snapping to Marco. “Jean’s going to what now?”

  
Marco only shook his head at the wolf, wishing Eren understood just how dumb he sounded even suggesting Jean would leave the two of them. “I’ll explain it later, okay?”

  
Eren didn’t seem happy, but he backed off.

  
Bertholdt took a seat in the grass, confused with the exchange happening in front of him. Reiner stared blankly at Jean as everything started to click in his head. “That wasn’t…anything at all, was it?”

  
“Nope,” Jean replied, pocketing the glass vial.

  
“So you were just--”

  
“--Yup,”

  
“---And all I did was--”

  
“Yup.”

  
“Oh,” Reiner blinked. He turned to look at his travel companion, Annie shaking her head at him. She let out a sigh as she stepped forward.

  
“You are, with out a doubt the _dumbest_ smartest person I’ve ever known.” She commented, stepping past him and taking a seat a safe distance away from the druid. Jean followed suit, moving to sit with Marco and Eren as they all let everything sink in with Reiner.

  
Bertholdt stared at the grass in front of them, waiting for Jean to light the fire out of the pit that sat in the center of the group. He twisted his fingers together, not completely understanding the conversation that happened. Eventually, Reiner joined him at his side, offering him a smile as they instinctively laced their fingers together. “I feel like I’m missing something.” Bertholdt commented.

  
Marco smiled and nodded at the pair. “Idunno, you look pretty complete to me.”

  
They both went red, Reiner chuckling and Bertholdt ducking his head downward. Neither one had anything to say in retort.

  
Jean smiled, resting his head against Marco’s shoulder and moving his legs to allow Eren to lay against his lap. He brought his eyes to look at the small rogue across from him and received a quick shake of her head.

  
Jean agreed, deciding that now wasn’t the right moment to bring up the information his readings had given him while the pair were away. Annie knew, and so long as she knew about it, Jean figured he’d let the pair enjoy each other in peace while they still could.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! I have an entire plot planned out for this universe so, if enough people like it, I might make it a side project. I haven't decided yet.


End file.
